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Via London and Seattle, Microfinance and Carbon Credits Intersect in Ulaanbaatar
In the Mongolian capital city of Ulaanbaatar, more than a quarter of the population lives in “gers,” the traditional and ubiquitous tent-like structures, which are often insulated and heated by inefficient coal-burning stoves that contribute to stifling air pollution. A new multi-player partnership to finance carbon credits and energy efficiency aims to change that.
- Categories
- Environment
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How Tony Elumelu’s ‘Africapitalism’ Aims to Redefine African Economic Development
Tony Elumelu did not set out to create social change during his tenure at the helm of United Bank of Africa. "We wanted to democratize banking – at the time, it was an economic, not a social act,” he said during a keynote speech the Global Philanthropy Forum. Elumelu turned the failing Nigerian bank United Bank of Africa (UBA), which was purchased in 1997 for $5 million, into a multi-billion dollar financial services powerhouse. Elumelu is now taking his learnings from this experience to redefine strategies for African economic development.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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NexThought Monday: Complexity is the New Black
NYT columnist David Brooks recently called on social enterprise types to take a dose of realism. I argue it’s time to accept full responsibility for changing politics as part of social impact. If in attempting to improve some economic or social aspect of people’s lives we aren’t also improving their political standing and the rule of law, any economic or social impact remains temporary.
- Categories
- Education, Social Enterprise
- Tags
- impact investing
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Weekly Wrap: The State Department’s ‘Impact Economy’ Aim
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton opened U.S. State Department’s Global Impact Economy Forum on Friday speaking the language of "shared value" in the global economy. In a world in which "one out of three people in the world today living on less than $2 a day," Clinton said, "We believe expanding economic opportunity is fundamental to achieving our own national interest."
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- Uncategorized
- Tags
- governance
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Tools of the Trade: Building a Robust Deal Pipeline of Impact Companies in Emerging Economies – Part 3
What are the biggest lessons learned when it comes to finding high-quality companies in emerging markets? I posed this final question to our virtual panel of impact investing leaders who recommended teaming up with other investors to providing appropriate financing, making sure to select companies with a core social/environmental mission, embracing creativity, and embedding capacity building into the process.
- Categories
- Environment, Social Enterprise
- Tags
- impact investing
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Plug and Play: Energy Access at the BoP
In India, almost 290 million people lack access to electricity, according to the 2011 survey by the International Energy Agency. While people in the developed world have access to light with the simple flip of a switch, people in rural India and other parts of the developing world struggle at the base of the energy access ladder. Improving energy access for the bottom of the pyramid is a steep challenge – as the poor ascend this ladder, they move from using traditional fuels like wood and kerosene towards universal access –what most of the developed world takes for granted.
- Categories
- Energy
- Tags
- renewable energy, solar
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An Entrepreneur’s View: WorldHaus, A Prototype for Progress in Global Housing
After months of planning and securing the prototype location in the outskirts of Chennai, India, we were ready to build in late summer of 2011. We begin our first housing development next month and aim to build over 500 houses by the end of the year.
- Categories
- Finance, Uncategorized
- Tags
- housing, rural development
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Have an Innovative Idea in Data, Irrigation, and/or Farming? Rockefeller Wants to Hear It
The Rockefeller Foundation has launched the 2012 Innovation Challenges to source innovative ideas that will have the potential to create long-term impact. The Innovation Challenges, which run through May 25, expect to gather ideas from around the globe in three issue areas: data, irrigation, and farming.
- Categories
- Education
